I was going to write this blog post on Saturday (8daysbeforeChristmas) but I didn’t get around to do it but here it is.

On Saturday when I went to the crossfit box there was a mad workout on the white board “8 days to Christmas”

8 benchmark crossfit workouts without any break in between! I can tell you it was a killer! It was a couples workout but I did it myself and scaled down to half the reps instead. In the muscle ups I used a resistance band as well but otherwise I tried to keep a steady paste not burning myself out to quick.

By the 5th workout I was starting to feel very fatigue and I had to remind myself that I love the feeling of being pushed hard.

It took me almost an hour to finnish the workouts and the next day I was sore! I love that feeling!

Being a binge-eater, is like being an alcoholic, except it involves food instead of alcohol. It’s an addiction which affects people of all levels of fitness.

Binge eating is as commen amongst competing fitness athletes as it is for a a person who never goes to the gym.

I would lie if I said I never had binge eaten myself. After a long diet your body runs on empty. You are on the borderline for what is a dangerous low fat procent. You are craving all that food you couldn’t eat during the comp diet.

Some people who suffer from binge eating disorder struggle with emotions of guilt, depression or anxiety. Others feels pressured to be thin and that can that way trigger emotional eating.

I have certain “bad” foods I just have to have after a diet and it’s bread and butter. Carbs and fat! I can go nuts on a loaf of bread but afterwards I feel pretty bad in my belly. Usually this binge period passes after a couple of days and I can go back to normal.

But for some people the binging takes over and they can’t break free. I know how hard it can be when the brain takes over but there is ways to break the binging.

My best tips to binge eaters is not to feel you have failed or done something bad. Learn what triggers the binge and try to avoid it. If you binge one day make sure you “snap out of it” the next day! Let go of the mentality that foods are “good” or “bad”. Make peace with the food!

1. Start the morning with a carb free breakfast like egg white omelette.

2. Go to the gym and workout hard and make sure you use the excess energy you stuffed your body with.

3. Eat clean throughout the day, no snacking. Make sure to not surround yourself with “binge food”

4. If you feel like snacking in the evening. Go for a power walk and drink a large cup of tea.

5. If you feel like binge later at night… brush your teeth and go to bed.

To watch long distance running is really weird. You stand by the track waiting for hours to se runners slowly make it over the finnishing line. It’s not very much action at all… people was mostly socialising with each other and drinking beer…

I have never watched a ultra marathon (50km) but this one was special cause my hubby was in it. He had a goal time of 5.30 hours but he finnished over an hour later than the goal time. He came in as 149… well that’s in top 150… good on him!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="2000"] Ian on the finnishing line… (he did run in shoes)[/caption]

I am super proud of him cause I could never run for that long! I don’t think I’ll ever run further than 10km.

My husband promised he would run the marathon this year and with only 3 weeks left of 2016 he is going to make it happen!

Not only will he run a marathon he will run even further! The event is a 50km run along the footpaths and roads adjacent to the Gold Coast beachfront, one of the world’s most attractive beaches, from Kurrawato Duranbah and back.

This run is Australia’s most spectacular measured 50 km road race!!

AIMS/IAAF/IAU/AURA/AA/QA accredited

I think it’s a crazy long run! I could never run for that long… I’m used to workouts short and sweet! 1 hour smashing mysself to 100% effot… but 5 hours is a long time!!

This weekend was a truly epic weekend. I can’t write to much about it right now… (but I will later so keep tuned!)

It was really great being back in Sydney again. It actually felt like “coming home”.

I met some really amazing people and it was very inspiring talking to everyone.

Every year I try to challenge myself and I am really proud over finishing this year with a really big challenge.

I don’t know what next year holds for me but I’m going to continue pushing myself to be stronger, better and “bigger”. I’m going to search new challenges cause being out of my comfort zone keeps me exited on life.

-Uh, it’s very hot today! Being from Sweden and all, how are you finding it?

– I’m fine! I love the heat, that’s why I moved here.

– But it gets really warm in summer!

-Good! In sweden it’s usually very rainy and cold in summer.

People in Australia seems afraid of the heat. They need the cool all the time! I can’t really understand the hysterical madness about keeping it cool!!!

For example, my son has told me that it’s so cold at his friends house of the air-condition, that everyone sits under fleece covers in front of the television.

Outside school parents doesn’t even get out of their cars to pick up their children, Instead they sit in the aircon in the car with the engine on polluting our planet.

The gym is even worse! The aircon is often on freeze blowing straight at you when exercising!

I’m doing my workout and my body is trying to heat up. The Aircon is blowing cold at me and my body is trying to create a balance between the body temperature and the temperature around me.

The body slowly starts losing the warmth. That’s really not good for your muscles as you workout.

It’s okay to cool your body down once you are done working out but not as you are working out!! It’s like travelling in a train whose brake system doesn’t work properly. The constant sudden brake harms the passengers within the train. Same way it harms your muscles and tissues.

Sweating is a very good way of letting out all the toxins in your body and all the dust that has accumulated over your skin. Once you sweat and then take a shower you feel more refreshe, so working out under just a fan is more effective and beneficial health wise than in a to cool air condition.

I hear people (often overweight people) in the gym complain about it being to hot in the gym (when it’s not). The amount of body weight and body fat is often a bigger factor for excessive sweating, not the already cool temperature in the gym. Moving require more effort with increased body weight and higher amounts of body fat can insulate your body trapping the heat.

Rathet than turning the aircon up to freeze, I would suggest a extra power walk and a good diet plan to dropp some body fat!

The aircon ruined my workout today! I had a plan of 1.5h leg session and 30min cardio but I had to cut my session short! I was sweating but my skin was cold on the outside with goose bumps! My joints felt stiff after the rest between sets so I couldn’t lift as heavy as I wanted to… DAMN THE AIRCON !!!

So you want to loose body fat and increase muscle, tone up and get some definition…right?

You have read about how some foods are good for you and some foods bad. The only way to loose weight is to cut out the “bad foods” from your diet.

Chicken & rice= good!

Ice cream & waffle= bad.

I still believe eating clean is best for the body, but not necessarily for the brain.

Many of my clients just love their snacks and treats. When their favourite foods isn’t in the diet plan they feel like they need “cheat days”. With a flexible diet you never need to feel you miss out of any foods.

When food enters your stomach your body doesn’t know if it’s good or bad food?” it is simply breaking down the food and processing the macronutrients.

You can basically eat whatever you want as long as it within your macros. Therefore it is very important to logg all food you eat during the day to keep track. There is many “calorie counting apps” for your smartphone that will help you logg the food properly.

This diet could be difficult for some people and I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone. It is really important to know your macros in order to get it right.

Shredding, toning, dropping or getting ready for the beach season. It all requires one thing… keeping track of your food!

You can train hard and do your cardio every day, but if you stuff your face with bad food you will most likely fail.

Think of it as a numbers game. If you stuff yourself with a lot of calories /energy . .. you also got to burn it off in order to shredd.

Some people can eat a lot and still look toned, but let’s be honest, most uf us can’t pig out and stay lean at the same time.

To actually shredd fat and KEEP the muscles and strength is the hard part. I mean, if you stop eating you will loose weight but you loose energy and muscle too and shortly you probably go back to binge eating and put the weight back on again!

The trick to success is to know how to divide your fats, carbs and protein to fit your body and lifestyle. You shall have enough energy to train hard, be a mum and handle your work BUT you still need to be lower in calories in order to shredd.

My “low shredding” calorie intake is 2000 and for someone else this might be a high number. If your bodyweight is high or you have a lot of muscle and and active job 2000kcal can be way to few calories, and instead of shredding fat you get tired and hungry and start to loose muscle. If you are small and have a job where sitting down most of the time, 2000kcal can be to much to tone.

To find your perfect balance is a numbers game. When I first stared with bodybuilding my ” low calorie intake” was 2500kcal. If I eat that today I maintain but I don’t shredd. It all depends on how your body are responding at the time. At 2000kcal I’m slowly loosing fat. I can train hard and keep my energy. I’m a little bit hungry… but it’s ok as long as I don’t loose any muscle.

I have on the scales only lost 2kg in a month but my body composition scan tells me that the fat is shredding…. slowly and patiently I trust the process and I am sticking to my plan.